Helping Christians Grow Stronger in Christ

The Debate

I enjoyed the debate by two great men, Bill Nye and Ken Ham. It was Evolutionist vs. Creationist. However, it was a bit dull and there weren’t any hard hitting questions asked or answered.

You could tell the passion both men hold for their beliefs. Mr. Nye asked some questions that are confusing, debatable, uncertain or just misunderstood. He spoke about how Science is always certain. That ascertain is really false. You probably can name several things that has changed as science learned more. Consequentially, that “fact” has changed. Conversely, Mr. Ham didn’t provide any (yep, I’m going to use the “S” word) scientific facts to back up his assertions. Typically religions don’t do that since faith is the foundational stone upon what it is built on. Nevertheless conversations like this should be addressed in a civil manner like they did.

My question to us is: “Can we adequately defend our faith? We will be confronted with naysayers and unbelievers. What do we do? What should we do? What should we say?

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5 thoughts on “The Debate”

The truth is told in history!
Ecc.1:1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? 4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever. 5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 6The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. 7All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. 8All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun: 10Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. 11There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
This is a quote from then the wised man in the whole world and to whom there would be no equal ever to come along; until Jesus who is the Spirit of History or Prophecy as seen in Rev.19:10; who was no mere man but actually God in the flesh as seen in scripture as we were told by the Apostle Paul in 1 Tm.3:16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. As we see that God is actually the Holy Spirit who became flesh and blood and by whom we are sealed and purchased with His blood seen in Ac.20:28Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
With all this said and presented as factual evidences for my train of thought; I too will stand on the authority of the Holy Bible our scriptures in which we can rely on for its stability in factual evidences; which no man can compare their finding to, other than history, which has proven the success of the Word of God! When God speaks and says it will happen it is as good as happened; Is.55:11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it! Beings God cannot lie as told to us in scripture time and time again in many verses that I will only list two for verification but there are many more than this I am about to provide; Num.23:19; Mal.3:6; on His consistency and these two for His truthfulness; Tit.1:2 and Heb.6:18 see also Col.1:5-6 too.
All of this is still hearsay of another book written by men who were moved by the Holy Spirit; who is the Spirit of Jesus Christ as shown in 2 Pt.1:19-21 and 1 Pt.1:19-11 which is God’s own Spirit seen in Ro.8:9 which shows the Oneness of all truths ever to be uttered in one Person of Jesus Christ, who merely says it and it appears as seen in Jn.1:1-18 who is the begotten or incarnated God in the Greek original scripts! All this proves to us that God’s word is irrefutable just for its shear accuracy; with the evidences in Archeology to substantiate this point!
When anyone ever has a doubt about the Bible and the word of God being truthful all we have to do is go back to history and see this time and time again how scripture has coincided with actual historical events! I will not go into all the geological evidences, as to the origin of species or vegetation or anything of the like but I will go into one very important person who stands in history of the ancient for fathers of history writers to prove that Jesus did in fact exist as it is written in the Roman history books written by a Jew who turned to heathenism to save his own hide as we see in Josephus’ writings as well to the fact the Jesus was well known historical figure; and that He was crucified by the authorization of His own brethren for claiming to be just who He said He was; as seen in Jn.8:58 and if we do not understand this and acknowledge this too we will die in our sins as seen in Jn.8:24! There is only one I Am!
I will use only one writing for my evidences of the accuracy of the written word of God as being completely faithful in its truthfulness! That was no less published by one of them; a scientist of a sort if you will; he was a good well balanced man with an education that is completely verifiable as to his academia in Mathematics, as well as several other teachings of the natural sciences for his engineering degrees as well as Law if I remember right as well as Theology, and Philosophical pursuits as well! This man’s name in Clarence Larkin who wrote Dispensational Truth! How appropriate for this subject matter! I just happen to be rereading his book and noticed in it, that he has just what I’m looking for as factual evidences in the historical probabilities of the prophecies of Jesus coming true as recorded in the Holy Bible is quite astronomical in his calculations: For example on page 6-7 of Clarence’s book he calculates some figures for us in the relativity of probabilities of Prophecy, in how accurate the bible is.
First let us start off with this one; I will just quote it exactly as it is written (sic.),
Mountain Peaks of Prophecy
The Bible is unlike all other “sacred books” in that it bases its “Authenticity” and “Authority” on PROPHECY. All other “sacred books” contain no predictions as to see into the future. If their authors had attempted to foretell future events, their non-fulfillment would, long ere this, have discredited their writings. Fulfilled prophecy is stronger evidence for the “Inspiration” and “Authenticity” of the scriptures than miracles. Prophecy is not a “haphazard guess” nor a “probability” made up on uncertain data like our “Whether Probabilities.”
Prophecy is:
“HISTORY WRITTEN IN ADVANCE,”
Or, as another has said—“Prophecy is the MOLD OF HISTORY.”
The importance of the study of the Prophetic Scriptures is seen when we recall that two-thirds of the scriptures are Prophetic, either in type, symbol, or direct statement; and more than one-half of the Old Testament prophecies, and nearly all of the New Testament, point to the events yet future. Then this is a “Dark Word,” and men need the “Sure Word of Prophecy” to LIGHT them over the stormy “Sea of Time.” 2 Pt.1:19: When men see that God has a “Plan of Purpose” in the “Ages” they take heart, and have something to pin their faith to. It was because the religious leaders of Christ’s day were not students of the Prophetic Scriptures that they failed to recognize Him when He came, and if the religious leaders of our day despise and reject the study of Prophecy, the will not be ready for Christ’s Second Coming.
There are “Four Prophetic Periods” clearly outlined in the scriptures.
1. Patriarchal—B. C. 1921-1491
2. Mosaic—B. C. 1491-1370
3. Jewish—Post Exilic—B. C. 500-400
Exilic— B. C. 600-500
Pre-Exilic— B. C. 900-600
(400 Years of Silence)
4. Apostolic— A. D. 27-100
These Prophecies divide themselves into three grant divisions:
1. Past—Fulfilled Prophecies
2. Present—Fulfilling Prophecy
These are the Prophecies that refer to the Jews, the nations and the moral and religious character of the times.
3. Future—Unfulfilled Prophecy
“Requirements” of a genuine prediction are five in number:
1. It must have been made known PRIOR to its fulfillment.
2. It must be beyond all HUMAN FORESIGHT.
3. It must give Details.
4. A SUFFICIENT TIME MUST EPLAPSE BETWEEN ITS PUBLICATION AND FULFILLMENT TO EXCLUDE THE PROPHET OR ANY INTERESTED PARTIES, FROM FULFILLING IT.
5. There must be a CLEAR AND EVIDENT FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY.
The value of the argument for the “Inspiration of the Scriptures” from prophecy is evident when study the Law of “COMPOUND PROBABILITIES.”
If I were to predict and earth quake in Philadelphia next year the chance would be 1in 2 that it would occur: If I should add another prediction, that it would be on the fourth of July, the chances is decreased 1 in 4. And if I add another detail, that it would be in the daytime, the chance then becomes 1 in 8. And if I should add a fourth detail the chance would then be 1 in 32. And if the details were 10 in number, the chance would be 1 in 1024.
Now there were 25 specific predictions made by the Old Testament Prophets bearing on the betrayal, trial, death and burial of Jesus. These were uttered by different Prophets during the periods from B. C. 1000 to B. C. 500, yet they were all literally fulfilled in 24 hours in one person. According to the law of “Compound Probabilities” there was one chance in 33,554,432 that these 25 predictions would be fulfilled as prophesied. If one prophet should make several predictions as to some one event, he might by collusion with others bring it to pass, but when a number of prophets, distributed over several centuries, give detailed and specific predictions as to some event, the charge of collusion cannot be sustained. It is a fact that there were 109 predictions literally fulfilled at Christ’s First Advent in the flesh. Apply the Law of “Compound Probabilities” to this number and the chance was only 1 in BILLIONS that they would all be fulfilled in one person.
The argument that Jesus employed to convince those two mourning disciples walking to Emmaus that He was “The Messiah,” was the appeal to “Prophecy.” “And beginning at Moses and ALL THE PROPHETS, He expounded unto them in ALL THE SCRIPTURES” (O. T. Scriptures), the things concerning Himself.” Lk.24:27. It would be intensely interesting reading, amazingly helpful, if we only had in Luke’s gospel a full report of that afternoon’s conversation. The two disciples were familiar with the things that had occurred the previous week at the arrest, trail, crucifixion and burial of Jesus, as well as the rumors of His resurrection. It was not difficult therefore for Jesus to take those things and by quoting from the Old Testament scriptures show that they were just what the prophets had foretold would happen to the Messiah when He came. He reminded them that the prophet had said that the Messiah should be sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zech.11:12), be betrayed by a friend (Ps.41:9), forsaken by His disciples (Zach.13:7), accused by false witnesses (Ps.35:11), be dumb before His accusers (Is.53:7), be scourged (Is.50:6), His garments parted (Ps.22:18), mocked by His enemies (Ps.22:7-8), be given Gall and Vinegar to drink (Ps.69:21), not a bone of His body broken (Ps.34:20), die with malefactors (Is.53:12), that the price of His betrayal should be used to purchase a “Potter’s Field” (Zech.11:13), and that He should be buried in a rich man’s tomb Is.53:9.
But Jesus doubtless did not stop with simply proving that crucified Christ fulfilled all the requirements of prophecy. It was a long walk they had. Jesus doubtless joined them soon after they left Jerusalem for Emmaus, which was some six miles away, and so had ample time in which to outline the “Prophetic Portrait” of the Messiah. Turning to Ge.22:7-8, He pictured Isaac as a “Type” of Christ and that God spared Abraham’s son, but did not spare His own Son. He then called attention to the institution of “The Passover,” and recalled the fact that in preparing the lamb for roasting, that two spits were used, one thrust lengthwise through the body for support over the fire, and the other across the shoulders for turning, thus symbolizing the Cross on which the Lamb of God was suspended. He then reminded them that Jesus had said in one of His discourses—“And if I be LIFTED UP, will draw all men unto me.” John12:32. And having thus refreshed their memories, He took them back to that incident in history of the Children of Israel of “The Brazen Serpent.” And pointed out that that was a type of how men are bitten with the serpents with sin, and need a Saviour, and how Jesus by being lifted up took the place of the “Brazen Serpent,” and that all that look to him in faith shall be delivered from the results of sin. Then Jesus spoke of the Prophet Jonah, and what befell him, and recalled His own prophecy, which doubtless they had heard but forgotten, that—“As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whales belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt.12:40), Thus showing them that they should not have been surprised at the report they had heard that morning, that Jesus had RISEN FROM THE DEAD.
Is it any wonder that Jesus thus went on outlining the “Prophetic Christ” and comparing Him with the “Historic Christ” they had known and loved, that their heart “BURNED WITHIN THEM” as He talked with them by the way, and opened up to them the Scriptures. Lk.24:32. How easy a conundrum seems when we know the answer, and how simple the Scriptures become when we see Christ in them, for “the TESTIMONY OF JESUS” is the “Spirit of Prophecy,” Rev.19:10. That is, the Spirit and purpose of all Prophecy is to testify of Jesus. How important then is the study of Prophecy.
Now we have seen that here were 109 predictions of the Old Testament Prophets literally fulfilled at Christ’s First Advent, but there are 845 quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament, and 333 of these refer to Christ. They vary from Types, and Figures, that seem meaningless unless you place Christ in them, to exact predictions that at times descend to the minutest details. The only books of the Old Testament not quoted in the New Testament are Ruth, Ezra, Nehemiah, Songs of Solomon and Obadiah.
This shows well enough that there is more than enough substantiation of the prophecies of the Old Testament to the New carried more than enough evidence to the fact that the Holy Word of God is more than just the word of God it is as the author I just got through writing about tells us in his own words that when God speaks He actually sets the mold for history in the future! There is not a man made computer that can get to the accuracy that is set forth in our Holy Bible! It is the irrefutable and inerrant word of God who cannot lie! What He says is coming true without a doubt in my mind and any mind that is going to heaven; without faith it is impossible to please God, Heb.11:6!
The whole point to all that I have written is that we do not need to defend the Holy Bible the Word of God because it speak volumes for itself; I once heard it put something like this; the Word of God or the Holy Bible is just like a 2500lbs grizzly bear or a big old Brahma Bull, you don’t have to defend it you just let it lose and it will take care of itself. I might add; if anyone messes with it they too will be destroyed in short order at the Last Trump and the Shout of Michael! We will then have to face our word, ever idle word that we have uttered (Mt.12:36-37), and it better line up with His who spoke it from heaven! Ro.3:4God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written: That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Lords Way Ministries
Rev. G. L. Boyett

Please fell free to leave comments and to visit me at Face book at Gary Boyett or skype at gar.boyett3 or reveredgarylboyettrogersarusa or at my blog-sght http://garylordsway.wordpress.com
thanks again
Rev. G. L. Boyett

My Quotes
And some favorites from other authors:
Lords Way Ministries
By G. L. Boyett;GaryLordsWay@aol.com
1Tm.3:16 & 6:11-21; Isaiah60:1-22
Gal.4:16Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
~ Even so, if I be persecuted for His sake, I find myself in good company, in the company of the Elect! ~
(Isaiah59:1-21) The Lord will always have a prophet, for His generation, by Rev. G. L. Boyett (Rev.19:10)
Ecc.12:7-14; Ps.2:1-12; Is.55:1-13; Mal.3:16-18
Emerson said, “The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it!”
Stopfard A. Brooke said, “If a thousand old beliefs were ruined in our march to truth, we must still march on!”

You brings some great points. Research and Archeology has helped confirm the accuracy of the bible. We have Christian scientist who work to show that the Word of God is true. Obviously, the unbelieving scientist do the exact opposite. Yet, the truth doesn’t change. We have to hold onto that understanding.

I didn’t know the specific prophetic calculations. That’s great information to know. In fact, it’s quite interesting. On a more practical level, how will we help our brothers and sisters explain this to nonbelievers? How do we make the complex simple? An unbeliever, well even some believers, don’t want the 20K foot level of information nor do they want to go into the weeds. They want the “How does this help me” explanation. In fact, that’s why I write my blogs the way that I do. I’m looking to empower them. Hopefully, the cultural commentaries encourage them to dig a little deeper into Scriptures. Additionally, videos like the debate between the Scientist and the Theologian might pique their interest more. As they do this, they’ll be transformed for more work for the Kingdom.

In saying all of that, the question…the need is still this: “How do we make the complex simple to help encourage our brothers and sisters to stand for Christ?” I realize people need to know how to apply God’s word in their everyday life. In doing so their worldview will change. That change will help change the people around them.